Lori Bara

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Lori Bara (born Lori De Coppet Bara Goodman; October 30, 1897 – August 4, 1965), also known as Esther Goodman, was an American screenwriter, director, and silent film actress. She is best known for writing the screenplays of The Soul of Buddha (1918) and Samarang (1933) which she also directed along with Ward Wing, her then-husband.

Lori Bara
Bara in Seven Chances (1925)
Born
Lori De Coppet Bara Goodman

(1897-10-30)October 30, 1897
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
DiedAugust 4, 1965(1965-08-04) (aged 67)
Los Angeles County, California, U.S.
Burial placeHoly Cross Cemetery
Other namesEsther Goodman
Occupations
  • Screenwriter
  • director
  • actress
Years active1918–1941
Spouse(s)
Francis William Getty
(m. 1920, divorced)

(m. 1927; div. 1935)
RelativesTheda Bara (sister)
Charles Brabin (brother-in-law)

Early life[edit]

Bara was born Lori De Coppet Bara Goodman on October 30, 1897, in Avondale, Cincinnati, as the youngest child of Pauline Louise Françoise De Coppet and Bernard Berek Goodman.[1] She had a brother, Mark J.N. Goodman, and a sister, Theda Bara.[1]

Personal life[edit]

Bara married Francis William Getty in London, England, on July 20, 1920,[1] but the marriage was later. On July 6, 1925, Bara moved into a two-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles, California, with actress Nola Luxford.[2] She later married Ward Wing, a writer, in Mexico, on November 23, 1927.[3][4] In 1930, Bara resided in Beverly Hills, California.[1] She divorced Wing in 1935.[3]

Career[edit]

Bara started her career by working as an actress along with Nola Luxford.[2] She then appeared in a few films as an extra and in bit parts before turning down her acting career to become a writer.[3] Bara later explained the reason for turning down her acting career in an interview: "I never really wanted to act and never liked it, because you've always got to be thinking of how you look."[3] She made her writing debut with the screenplay for The Soul of Buddha (1918) which starred her sister, Theda Bara.[5] Bara later appeared in Buster Keaton's comedy Seven Chances (1925). She made her last film appearance in George Hill's Tell It to the Marines (1926), which starred Lon Chaney, playing a Navy nurse.[6][7]

In 1931, Bara began to work as a screenwriter at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.[8] In 1933, she traveled with her husband to British Malaya and resided there for six months while they filmed Samarang (1933), a romance film with all native cast, in which Bara was screenwriter and director.[3][9][10][11] She then wrote the screenplay for Tea Leaves in the Wind (1938). Her last screenplay was The Shark Women (1941), a documentary film about Malaysian pearl divers.[6][12]

Filmography[edit]

Selected credits as actress and/or screenwriter
Title Year As actress Role As screenwriter Notes Ref.
The Soul of Buddha 1918 Yes [5]
Seven Chances 1925 Yes Mother of Underage Girl Uncredited [6]
Tell It to the Marines 1926 Yes Navy Nurse at Mission Uncredited [7]
Samarang 1933 Yes Also a director [11]
Tea Leaves in the Wind 1938 Yes [6]
The Shark Women 1941 Yes [12]

Death[edit]

Bara suffered from a cardiovascular disease and was hospitalized at Marycrest Manor in Culver City, Los Angeles.[13] She died there on August 4, 1965, at the age of 67 and was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery.[13][1]

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e Lori De Coppet Bara Goodman, Ancestry
  2. ^ a b Grondelle 2000, p. 64.
  3. ^ a b c d e Golden 1998, p. 227.
  4. ^ "Lori Bara Weds Ward Wing". The New York Times. November 23, 1927. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 10, 2024.
  5. ^ a b Golden 1998, p. 155.
  6. ^ a b c d Nash & Ross 1985, p. 146.
  7. ^ a b Blake 2001, p. 161.
  8. ^ Town Journal. Farm Journal, Incorporated. June 1931. p. 27.
  9. ^ Pitts 2019, p. 220.
  10. ^ Uhde & Uhde 2010, p. 19.
  11. ^ a b Langman 1998, p. 122.
  12. ^ a b Langman 1998, p. 149.
  13. ^ a b Golden 1998, p. 236.

General and cited sources[edit]

External links[edit]